Kare to Kanojo
by Yuuto Tamano
Summary: AU. She hates him. He loves her. He's always watching her from afar. When she gets into trouble, he protects her, with a black cat mask. TWO-SHOT
1. Part I

**Disclaimer:** Gakuen Alice belongs to Higuchi Tachibana, but the plot is mine. **Author's Note: **This is going to be a two-shot fic. Expect the grammar errors below.

* * *

_Kanojo wa itsumo soko ni iru. Kare wa itsumo koko de mite iru._[1]

...

_She is there. She is always there._

Natsume narrowed his eyes as he rested his arms on the fence and placed his chin on top of them. His body slightly bowed. Sometimes he closed his crimson eyes when he felt the afternoon breeze blew past him. But mostly, he kept his eyes open, staring gently at what he had in sight.

_She is always there under the wide azure sky._

Behind him he could hear the door creaked open. He turned his head around. He smiled a little when he found his best friend, Ruka Nogi, walking toward him.

"Natsume," Ruka called, "Koizumi is looking for you."

Natsume, the said guy, hissed in annoyance after hearing the name his best friend mentioned, "Hn."

The corner of Ruka's lips lifted up a bit. He knew how much Natsume hated the Koizumi girl and that he would most likely ignore her. He then leaned his body on the fence next to his raven haired best friend.

"Natsume, can I ask you one thing?"

Natsume nodded in response.

"Why are you always going here everyday during recess just like this?"

Natsume paused for a while, "I'm watching."

"Watching at what?"

Ruka sighed deeply as Natsume didn't answer his question and just kept looking at God-knows-where. Ever since two months ago, Natsume was always going here, to the second floor's veranda of the school's west building during recess or after school, merely leaning his body on the fence and staring at nothing.

Of course he didn't mind at first, but as days passed, seeing this as his new habit had started to frighten him. He knew his best friend wasn't very talkative. But at least he deserved to know what was going on inside his mind, or so he thought.

"Natsume, sometimes, I don't really get you."

Little did Ruka know, a figure of a brunette haired girl could be seen clearly from that place.

* * *

**Kare to Kanojo**

_(Him and Her)_

by Yuuto Tamano

* * *

**Part I**

The sun were shining brightly and a brunette haired girl was lying peacefully under it.

Ever since she found a sunflower garden in the west side of her school, she always came here everyday, during recess or after school. Taking care of flowers was always her hobby, especially sunflowers.

At least, sunflowers could make her felt happy out of all the tough events she had to experience.

Sunflowers were only her best friends.

She was being bullied in her school, so no one would want to be her friend. She herself couldn't understand why she's bullied, because she thought she was normal like everyone else. Were there her words that annoyed her bullies? Were there her attitudes that annoyed them? She didn't know.

_"Your face is just so annoying. That's all." _She remembered what Luna Koizumi, one of her bullies, said when she asked why they bullied her.

Everyday she got dirts on her table. Everyday she got nails inside her indoor shoes. Everyday she got tackled. Everyday she got splashed while she was walking. Everyday she got to eat her bento in a toilet's cubicle.

Everyday also, she got bruises on her body.

She then stood up and walked toward the sunflowers. They were taller than her so she had to tilt her chin upward.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Sunflowers, are you thirsty? Want me to water you?" she asked, smiling.

She was happy. Only sunflowers were her best friends.

Little did she know, a pair of crimson eyes were watching her every movements from afar.

-o0o-

The school's bell rang, signaling all the students to get inside the class.

The brunette haired girl in pigtail, Mikan Sakura, also was walking down the school corridor to reach her classroom. She ignored the giggles and snickers which were directed to her.

Suddenly a foot blocked her way, causing her to fall and so did the books which she held in her hands. She stroked her nose, which was a bit reddening. She then tried to look up and found Luna Koizumi's figure before her.

"Oops, sorry, my foot betrayed me. Is that hurt?" Luna asked sweetly, pretending to be in guilt. She then could hear the laughter around her became louder and louder.

Yet Mikan didn't answer. She occupied herself with collecting the books.

Knowing she was ignored, Luna pulled one of her pigtails. "Didn't your mom teach you a thing called 'respect'? Didn't she teach you to answer all questions directed to you? So, I will ask you again, is that hurt, _bitch_?"

Yet again, Mikan didn't utter an answer, although she twitched in pain when Luna pulled her hair harder.

"Damn you, bitch!" Luna shouted and was about to slap her hard when she saw a figure of a very handsome man walking toward where she was. She squealed happily and remove her hand from Mikan's hair, "Natsume-kun!"

Hearing the name, Mikan could feel shivers running down her spine.

Meanwhile, the guy called Natsume muttered a curse as Luna leaned closer onto him.

"Look, Natsume-kun, that girl is causing a ruckus again. She fell all of a sudden and as I was about to help her, she refused and slapped my hand. Isn't that very rude?"

But none of her words seemed to register in his mind. He freed himself from Luna and made his steps toward the brunette haired girl. He was about to touch her shoulder and ask if she was okay when he saw her body trembled with fear.

"Don't touch me. Don't come near me." she said very slowly, but loud enough for him to hear.

Then as she finished collecting the books, she quickly ran away.

He stood still. He could feel a pang in his heart when he heard that two sentences. His fist clenched tighter. It was always like this. She was always trembling like that when he was near her. Never did the two exchange words, let alone looks. It was very well-known to the entire school that Mikan Sakura hated Natsume Hyuuga.

Very much.

Little did everyone knew, the hatred feeling in her heart started ever since _that _incident.

-o0o-

The school had ended.

And Natsume Hyuuga was once again leaning his crossed arms on the same fence as the one during the recess.

His chin on them.

For the umpteenth time he sighed deeply. As he recalled the event involving the brunette haired girl, his chest tightened. And he, of course, didn't feel very much comfortable with that. All he could do was sighing and sighing, in order to ease the pain.

He felt frustrated. Only because of a girl he was now staring at.

He ran his hand through his already messy hair as he looked away from her figure. If he watched her longer than that, he could no longer stand being in this state. He wanted to be near her. He wanted to hear her voice. He wanted to be looked by her. He wanted to touch her, to feel her, to make her happy, and to protect her from all those bullies.

Damn. How much he knew that he couldn't. How much he knew that she hated him very much, to the point that she wouldn't stand to be near him.

Yet he loved her very much, to the point that he would wish to be beside her always.

It was two months ago, when he realized his feeling toward her.

That day, from the west building's veranda, he found her talking to sunflowers. At first he thought she was an idiot. But when he saw her watering the flowers with a smile plastered on her face, he quickly changed his mind. She was beautiful and kind-hearted. He enjoyed watching her taking care the flowers. He even chuckled when she wet herself. Something he didn't do in front of anyone but Ruka. He continued watching her until she got home.

Since then his eyes were always looking for her. Her very existence. His mind felt like addicted for her. He felt like a stalker. But if it's for the sake of being able to see her, he'd like to be one.

And then, _that _incident occurred.

His dazzling crimson eyes suddenly widened when he focused his gaze on her and found some guys and girls were circling her. _Those bullies again, _he thought. She was scared and needed help, those were very clear in his eyes.

He had to help her. He needed to protect her.

But how?

-o0o-

"P-Please just go away..." Mikan said, a little stammering.

"Wait, did someone just speak?" said a permed, black haired girl namely Sumire Shouda. "Luna, did you hear something?"

Luna smirked cynically, "Umm, maybe? Did you Mochu?"

"No, I didn't." Mochu, the bald guy, stated clearly, "Let's just quickly get over with her, Luna."

Luna's smirk just got wider. "You're no fun, Mochu. Okay then, back to the topic." She looked at Mikan, "What exactly are you doing here, Sakura?"

Mikan tried to talk once again, "Ple...Please just leave me alone."

Luna the slap her cheek hard, causing her to fall down.

"This is what you got from not answering my question again. I should have done this before. You were just lucky because Natsume-kun was there first before I did that."

She shivered hearing the guy's name again.

"So once again, what are you doing here, _bitch_!" The question was heard more like an order.

"I-I'm watering my garden." Mikan finally answered.

Luna was smirking again like crazy. "_Your_ garden? Did I hear that right? This is the school's garden, not _yours_." She paused for a while as she looked like she got an idea. Then she glanced at the three guys next to her. "Mochu, Kitsu, Koko, destroy the garden!"

Mikan's hazel eyes widened hearing Luna's order.

"B-But..." Koko tried to argue.

"Don't worry Koko, it's _her _fault, not ours."

The three exchanged looks and then nodded. Excitedly, they started to step on the garden, kicking the plants and the flowers. The yellow petals of sunflowers scattered in the air. Mochu grabbed the trunk and cut it into two, followed by the others.

"NO! NOT THE FLOWERS!" she screamed as she got up and tried to block the guys. Instead she got kicked by Luna and the other two girls, Sumire and Wakako.

The tears finally ran down her cheeks. Not for the pain she felt in her body, but for the cruel view she saw with her eyes. The flowers she talked to and took care everyday, her only best friends, had just been destroyed.

What should she do? She had lost hope. Now she didn't have anything anymore.

"Get your ass off the flowers, you bastards!"

Mikan blinked. Was she actually hearing someone yelled at her bullies or not? Her hazel grew wider when she caught the figure of a guy punching and kicking the three bullies. And what more surprised her was that her hero had a mask covered his face.

A black cat mask.

Luna and the other girls frightened seeing the masked guy, who successfully made her allies running away hysterically as if they had just spotted a mad cat. Muttering curses, the girls then followed the guys.

Wincing in pain, Mikan tried to stand up but failed. Luckily the masked guy had caught her body in his arms.

She felt it. Her body might be slightly trembling, but she also felt save in that guy's arms.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Somehow his voice sounded familiar in her ears.

Mikan nodded and he sighed in relief. She then clutched her hands on her hero's uniform. "My sunflowers..." she sobbed.

Her hazel eyes widened once again when he hugged her and squeezed her back, inwardly telling her 'everything is okay'. Afterward he rose from his position and made his paces toward the messed garden. He dug the ground under him with his own hands before he took a sunflower's trunk and planted it again.

He also did the same for the other trunks.

Mikan, on the other hand, was speechless. Her mouth slightly hung open. The tears on her eyes were gone and changed by a very wide smile.

A very beautiful smile, he noted.

-o0o-

She felt like she had another friend.

She smiled as she saw the black cat masked guy sat tiredly on the ground, his arms supported his body. They just finished cleaning the garden and planting the sunflower's seeds she bought the day before.

"_Kuroneko_," was what she called him, because he refused to tell her his real name. "Thank you." she said, slightly blushing.

Kuroneko just nodded in response, before he drank his mineral water.

It was quite awkward for her to have a company—a _human_ company, because she never had one before. Of course, happy was an understatement. But most of the time she didn't know what topic to talk. Kuroneko wasn't helping either. Even though she barely knew him, she noticed that he was not a talkative type of person.

Tired of the quiteness between them, Mikan tried to start a topic.

"By the way, why did you help me from those bullies, kuroneko? I barely even know you." she asked.

Kuroneko titled his face toward hers. He silenced for a while before he said,

"You can say that I'm your secret admirer."

Hearing that, Mikan blushed seven shades of red.

-o0o-

Since Mikan's first encounter with Kuroneko, the bullying had started to decrease. Thanks a lot to him. Because everytime Luna and the others tried to harm her, he was always there protecting her.

Kuroneko had managed to throw away the snails inside her indoor shoes before Mikan even came to school. He even changed her desk, which was filled with unproper writings from her bullies, with a new clean desk. When he was beside her, he sent off an aura that told her bullies to back off.

In other words, he was protecting her. Until one day, the bullying finally stopped.

As one of her bullies, Luna was furious—no, she was mad. Mikan was her favorite bullying object, or so she called her. The girl never scared of her, even she still could attend school bravely after all of her cruel threats. Mikan never failed to make her surprised with her every reactions. Maybe Luna was a kind of obsessed to her. Because without Mikan, school was nothing but boring.

And now, a black cat masked guy called Kuroneko had ruined it.

The Kuroneko hinself was now very famous in school, even more famous than the school's handsome duo: Natsume Hyuuga and Ruka Nogi. He was talked by the entire school. He was everywhere in the school's magazine. He was never seen during the classes, as if he had been drowned to the ground. Then out of nowhere, he appeared before Mikan when the break period came.

No one knew what kind of face he had behind his mask. Out of curiosity, the students made a guess about him. Some believed he was handsome, but most of them believed he was ugly. That's why he covered his face with a mask. After all, only ugly guys were deserved to be with Mikan.

Luna was of course one of the majority. She hated Kuroneko. She hated his vey existence. And she only hated ugly guys. So no wonder Luna assumed that Kuroneko was the ugliest among the ugly guys.

And soon, she would make sure to get rid of him.

Somewhere, or more precisely in the sunflower's garden, the Kuroneko himself sneezed quite loud.

"Are you okay, Kuroneko?" Mikan asked him, slightly worried. She then handed him a box of tissue.

"I'm fine. Thanks." he said, placing a tissue behind his mask.

They were now eating their bento, or most likely Mikan was the only one eating her bento. Kuroneko refused to eat his own bento, because he was still wearing a mask. Though he promised her he would eat it later during fifth period.

"You know," Mikan started to speak. "sunflowers can grow to heights between 1.5 until 3.5 meters. Very tall, huh? Even Mr. and Mrs. Sunflowers I had before were about two meters high. I just hope the new sunflowers we plant will reach 3 meters!"

Kuroneko nodded in response.

"And do you know a way to make them grow faster and taller, besides watering them and give them fertilizer?" seeing Kuroneko only shook his face, she quickly continued, "We talk to them! I believe any kinds of plants will grow faster if we talk to them, so-"

"So that's why you talked to those sunflowers. Now I finally understand." he interrupted, surprising her.

She paused, quite shocked, "H-H-How do you know?"

"Like I said, I'm your secret admirer. I've always watched you from afar."

She once again blushed and she could feel the butterflies in her stomach. She lowered her head. She could hear her heart thumping faster and faster, louder and louder. Only because of Kuroneko's words. She didn't know why she became like this. She was never in this state before. She felt lose... and at the same time, happy.

"Mikan," Kuroneko suddenly called, causing her to quickly look up and raise an eyebrow. Her hazel eyes widened when she saw him shifting closer to her while, at the same time, raising his palm to reach her. As they skin touched, she could feel her body shaking with its own.

"There's a rice on your cheek." he said easily, and then shifting back to his previous position.

She shook her head. She could feel her heart beating like a crazy when he touched her. Somehow, his touch felt very familiar to her, as if his skin was not a merely stranger. It felt like his skin was something her mind didn't remember, yet her body did.

She didn't know why.

But one thing she knew for sure; she had fallen in love with the black cat masked man before her.

...

_Kanojo wa himawari no hana ga mamoru. Kare wa kanojo no tame ga kitto mamoru._[2]

_..._

**Part I - End**

**

* * *

**

**Translations: **

[1] She's always there. He's always here watching.

[2] She's protecting the sunflowers. He's surely protecting her.


	2. Part II

**Disclaimer:** Gakuen Alice belongs to Higuchi Tachibana, but the plot is mine. **Author's Note: **Sorry for the long wait. Expect the grammar errors and crunchiness below.

* * *

_Kanojo wa kare ga daikirai da. Kare wa kanojo ga daisuki da._[1]_  
_

...

"Natsume, why are you doing this?"

Natsume glanced at his best friend, Ruka Nogi, before he focused his gaze again at the black cat mask in his hands. He found it lying on the floor outside the drama club and until this moment, no one from that club seemed to claim it, so he could say that the black cat mask was now in his possession. He needed the mask badly, to protect her, without her knowing it was him.

He then made a glance towards a figure of a brunette haired girl who's sitting calmly in front of the sunflower's garden. Her back facing him.

"She's waiting for me." Natsume said as he turned his body and put on the mask.

Before he succeeded in making his paces out of the west building's veranda, Ruka caught his shoulders and turned them back until they were face to face. "Listen to me, Natsume! You know she hates you, don't you? So what if..."

Ruka paused for a while as he bit his bottom lip in hesitation.

"...what if... she finally knows the truth about you?"

Natsume kept in silence. He then lowered his face, watching the white floor as if it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen. He kept like that for a minute before he turned to face his blond haired best friend again.

"Even though she hates me and never wishes to be by my side," he started, "I'll surely protect her no matter what."

* * *

**Kare to Kanojo**

_(Him and Her)_

by Yuuto Tamano

* * *

**Part II**

Mikan smiled widely. Both of her hazel eyes were sparkling in satisfaction.

"Kuroneko! Kuroneko!"

Kuroneko, who was leaning his back against a trunk of a big tree, turned his face to glance at her. He raised his eyebrows, though no one could see it because his face was covered by a black cat mask. When he saw Mikan waved her right palm, he quickly got up and walked towards her. He took a position next to her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing is wrong! Look at this," she replied as her index finger pointed to a certain spot of the garden. "The first bud has come out! We did it!"

Feeling a non familiar happiness in his heart, he slightly gasped, "We did?"

"Yes! Thank you so much, Kuroneko!" she squealed as she hugged the black cat masked man. She was oblivious to the fact that her body was a little shaking while doing that.

Neither was he, because he was too shocked to notice it.

Finally realizing what she was doing, Mikan blushed million shades of red as she quickly pulled off the hug. She faced the ground, so did he. None of them uttered a word. Mikan could feel her heart beating quickly and her chest slightly tightened. She inhaled and exhaled. Inhaled and exhaled. She poked her chest gently before she turned her head to face him.

"I-I am... I am sorry... I-I didn't m-mean to..." she stammered.

"It's okay. No problem." he replied easily, as if he wasn't bothered with it.

Although Kuroneko could feel it clearly; a slight electricity running down all his veins. He never thought the girl would have this kind of effect to him. He never expected this. He never knew until now that his body _missed _hers this much.

She needed him. He needed her. Those were very obvious facts. The two of them needed each other's presence so much, either they realized it or not.

Yet neither did the two of them expect that these all would be ruined in no time.

-o0o-

Somewhere, a strawberry blond haired girl was talking on her phone. She had that infamous smirk of hers on her face as she said, "Do you guys understand? I want it to be done the day after tomorrow after school. Do not fail! I can't stand a failure and you guys know it very well."

She paused for a while. Then her eyebrows shriveled in annoyance as she shouted, "Money? Of course you can get the money after you have done it successfully. Yeah, yeah—what? You want an advance money? Fine! How much do you want? 10000 yen? Okay, no problem."

Afterward, the smirk was again on her face when she said, "The black cat masked guy? You guys can do whatever you want. If you want to kill him, go on. I don't care. But don't ever harm the girl! got it?"

And lastly, she hung up the phone in excitement.

-o0o-

It was another beautiful day, she noticed. The birds were chirping happily and white clouds filled the blue sky in any kind of shapes, though they didn't block the sun rays shining down the earth. The air also felt great and fresh. She even took a deep breath in comfort and enjoyed the feeling of the wind passing her very much.

She wished Kuroneko was next to her at the moment.

At every moments.

She shook her head as she blushed lightly. What was she thinking? She felt like a love-sick girl just then. After that, she quickened her steps as she thought that her teacher would be mad at her if she didn't get back to the classroom immediately. She wished her teacher wouldn't notice how long she took her time only to go to the restroom. She couldn't help visiting the sunflower garden for a while first once she got out of it.

"But still, it would be nice to have Kuroneko around in all time." she mumbled and once again blushed madly.

Afterward, God seemed to grant her wish.

The corner of her hazel eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of a sleeping man under a sakura tree nearby. Her lips lifted up widely when she noticed the black cat mask covering his face. Without hesitation, she stepped closer to him and sat next to him quietly as she had no intention to wake him up. When she made a glance at his sleeping figure, she noticed how tall and lean he was. His hands, which supported the back of his head, filled with muscles in a proportional way. Any girl surely would wish for this kind of body. Including her.

Her face went pink when she realized what a perverted she was.

"I'm the worst..." she whispered to herself. Yet she was still focusing her gaze at him nevertheless.

Why did he cover his face with a mask? That question suddenly popped out of her mind. Now that she thought about it, like everyone else, she wondered what kind of face Kuroneko had behind his mask. She had heard all the rumors about him, mostly about him being ugly. Was he really that ugly? She questioned herself. She couldn't help but ended up believing those rumors anyway.

_But I will still accept him no matter how ugly he is, _she thought proudly.

But, curiosity still killed the cat. _I will put the mask on once I_ _get to see his real face. Now is the chance! _Carefully, she raised her hand and touched his mask. She paused for a while, making sure she didn't wake him up. Then slowly but surely, she held the corner of the mask and pulled it off.

Her eyes widened in an instant.

Her body quickly stammering with its own once she learned the familiar face of his; his messy raven hair, his short eyebrows, his pointed nose and thin lips. Spontaneously, she moved backward a bit. The black cat mask in her hand fell onto the ground, creating a quite loud sound.

"Na-Natsume Hyuuga...?"

Feeling a sudden lightning, he slowly opened both of his eyelids. Bright crimson could be seen clearly in his irises. He straightened his body as he rubbed his eyes, still half-conscious to his surroundings.

Then he caught a figure of an unexpected person beside him.

His eyes grew wider in an instant once he realized that the mask was no longer on his face,

"Mikan...?"

When he tried to reach her with his hand, she avoided it. Then he saw her stood up in fear and quickly ran away. He sat still, dumbfounded. He felt like his body frozen as he couldn't move even a bit.

What Ruka had said to him not long ago, which he frightened so much, had come true.

What should he do next? Would he keep his words he said to Ruka the other day?

Of course he would.

-o0o-

"NOOO!" she screamed, cold sweats were running down her temple.

She glanced at the clock hanging on the wall before her; one past thirty in the morning. Her chest kept moving up and down uncontrollably. Her heart pumped quickly. Then she could feel her hazel eyes filled with tears.

She just had a bad dream—scratch that, a nightmare.

About _that _incident with the guy she hated the most.

She then tried to lay her body down onto the bed while managing to hold her tears and calm down her chest. She also tried to think for another, in order to forget the nightmare she just had. But unfortunately she failed. The more she tried to forget, the clearer did the dream become, causing her body to stammer with its own.

Until she could totally recall about the worst incident that happened to her a month ago.

It was Sumire's birthday and the permed haired girl threw a swimming party in her mansion. It could be called a miracle that she was invited, because Sumire was (and still is) one of her bullies at the moment. Without a second thought she came to the party, wearing a decent pink dress her mother bought for her on her last birthday.

Once she arrived at Sumire's mansion, she could smell the scent of alcohol everywhere. She was not surprised, of course, and she also decided not to drink even a glass of alcohol unless she wanted to get yelled by her mother. Inside, she could also see most of the girls wearing bikinis and flirting with the boys, who most of them were also topless. Her cheeks grew redder when she saw a couple making out nearby and then walked away to avoid them.

On the swimming pool, she found Sumire and Luna were talking to each other. There were three boys accompanied them both. One of the boys she recognized as Ruka Nogi, the school's heartthrob. Then she walked towards them, willing to congratulate Sumire for her birthday.

But instead, who would have thought that Luna had a naughty mind about her? Once she got closer to them, Luna pulled her into the pool, causing herself to be laughed at by everyone in presence.

Of course, Sumire invited her only to make fun of her. Why couldn't she think about that first before she even came to this party?

Feeling embarrassed, she immediately got off the pool and ran away to nowhere in particular. Her body was fully wet and her dress became a bit transparent, though she was oblivious to the fact that her underwear could be seen clear enough. The night's cold wind wasn't helping either. She couldn't help but sneezing as her body stammering in cold. She was too focused in warming herself, so that she didn't notice what was in front of her and then bumped into something.

Or rather someone—and that was Natsume Hyuuga.

She was about to apologize to him when the crimson eyed guy suddenly hugged her and kissed her fully in the mouth. It was her first kiss. She then tried to struggle but unfortunately he was stronger than her. The tears then coming out from both of her eyelids as she could feel her knees weakening. Yet he seemed to not care and kept kissing her fiercely.

And lustfully.

She couldn't disobey when he dragged her towards a room nearby. She knew she didn't have another choice. He was too strong for her own good.

Inside he kissed her mouth again, then her cheeks, her earlobes, her neck, and her other parts of her body, leaving hickeys. He touched, licked, and tasted all her genitals.

And worst, he took away her virginity.

In other word, he had raped her.

Since that, she always hated the guy named Natsume Hyuuga. She couldn't forget it; the night he stole all her firsts. Even her body always trembled on its own whether she was near him or heard his name.

Fortunately she didn't get pregnant. She was so much grateful for that.

She cried hard as she recalled that incident. Even harder when she remembered the event that happened this morning, when she finally found out that Kuroneko, her first friend in high school, was actually the guy who had done such a horrible thing to her.

No wonder she felt familiar to him the very first moment she saw him, or might be too familiar.

Because Kuroneko was actually Natsume Hyuuga; when she said that in her mind, her chest suddenly felt hurt.

So much.

Causing her unable to go back to sleep until the morning sun finally woke up from its slumber.

-o0o-

It was hard for her to fully avoid Kuroneko, or Natsume, when he himself kept trying to meet her and talk to her.

Earlier this morning, Natsume, still with his mask on his face, had waited for her right in front of her locker, but she had also managed to pretend he wasn't there. He had tried to follow her towards her classroom (they're not in the same classroom), but it was a fail. He had also waited for her at the sunflower's garden during recess, but she didn't come. Of course he was hurt, although he thought he deserved it, after what he had done a month ago.

That night he was drunk. When he found her in a wet and revealing dress, his hormones got the better of him. After all, he had always obsessed to her. He couldn't think straight when he kissed her. He felt like a deaf person when she was moaning in pain.

He had tried to apologize to her, but she always avoided being near him. And this time was also the same.

Yet little did he know, this time was a bit different. Because when she tried to elude herself from him, she felt a pang on her chest.

That's another reason how hard her attempts to not meeting him.

When the school's bell rang, she had decided to straightly go home. That was, she thought, the last and the best thing she could do to keep away from him for the day. Once she had put all her things in her bag, she quickly walked out of the classroom. She also kept glancing to her right and left, making sure he was not anywhere near her. She sighed in relief when she finally made a step out of the school's gate.

But suddenly, a strong hand covered her mouth and another hand put a handkerchief to her nose, causing her to immediately black out due to the sedative on it.

-o0o-

Natsume was mad.

Just some minutes ago, he quickly ran towards the sunflower's garden once the school's bell, which indicated that the school had ended, rang. His black cat mask on his face. But there he saw no signs of her, instead he found a letter retained by a stone.

.

_Come to the abandoned building beside the west park at 5 p.m. sharp. You don't want to know what will we do to your beloved Mikan Sakura if you come late. Make sure you're alone. _

_._

And now he was running to the said place as fast as he could.

He inhaled a lot of oxygen as he reached the front of the abandoned building. The building was actually an unfinished construction of a department store. Due to some licensing issues, the construction was never completed. Then it was abandoned just like this. The building was quite scary both in the morning and mostly in the evening. So no one had ever used this building. That was, until those unknown bastards who dared kidnapping _his_ Mikan.

And he would make sure to kill them mercilessly.

Without further ado, he quickly went inside the building. The closer he was to the kidnappers, the more he felt the anger inside him. He tightened his fists, ready to punch whoever was in his sight. But what he didn't expect was the figure of a strawberry blond haired girl suddenly came up before him.

"You! What are you doing here?" he asked in a husky tone.

"Well, Kuroneko," The girl, namely Luna Koizumi replied with a smirk, "I am the one who you're looking for."

Unable to stand the way she acted, he pushed her shoulders against the wall behind her. She groaned in pain as he gripped her shoulders hard. "I should have known you're the only one possible behind this. What exactly do you want?"

"What I want?" Her smirk grew wider, "Of course I want you to dig your own grave!"

As Luna snapped her fingers, five men clad in black appeared out of nowhere. One of them attacked Natsume with his punch, which the Kuroneko easily evaded it. The three other also tried to do the same, but being a formidable person he was, he kicked them and smacked them right on their stomach. Of course, he was not a black belt for nothing.

Seeing his friends being beaten, the last guy turned around. Natsume thought he was going to run away in fear, but how wrong he was. His crimson eyes widened behind the eye-holes of his mask when he saw the guy coming back again with a girl in his hands. A knife was pointed to her neck.

"Mikan..." Natsume said as he tried to reach her.

"Move closer and I will stab this girl's neck for sure!" that guy shouted loudly, pushing the knife closer to her neck as Natsume spontaneously stopped his feet. She, on the other hand, couldn't even react for a bit. She was too shocked to even absorb her surroundings.

The other four guys then trapped the dumbfounded Natsume from behind and arrested him down against the floor. Afterward came the sardonic laughter out of Luna's mouth. She smirked widely as she looked down on him. "This is what you've got for protecting my favorite bullying object. What are you trying to be? A knight in shining armor perhaps? You're nothing but a disturbing scene. I should have done this the first moment I saw your damn presence in that damned sunflower's garden two weeks ago!"

"You're insane, woman." he responded cynically.

"Shut up, ugly!" she yelled in anger, "I think it's the time for me to see how ugly your face is." she smirked once again as she slouched down to reach his mask. Forcefully, she pulled off the mask and her eyes suddenly widened when she saw the piercing crimson orbs attached to his face.

She paused for a moment before she finally opened her mouth, "N-Na-Natsume-kun...?"

"Surprised, huh? No wonder." When Natsume said that, he concentrated his power to his right hand, resulting it to slip off the enemy's grip and punched him hard. The Kuroneko also had managed to hit another guy gripping his left hand and then kicked the other guys on his feet. Once he fully released from them, he quickly jumped backward. His crimson eyes narrowed in awareness when he saw a guy holding a knife towards him.

"Stop! Don't hurt Natsume-kun!" came a shout from Luna. The remaining guys looked at her in disbelief.

"What?" one of them said, "You said we can do whatever we want to harm him?"

"I said don't! I take back what I've said!"

The guys looked at each other before they smirked cynically, "Oh, too bad, Luna darling," one of them said, "there's no a 'take back' in our deal."

Then, they bluntly took out their knives and one by one attacked Natsume. Though the Kuroneko could avoid them successfully, he only could do the defense. He couldn't just attack them with empty hands. Not long after that, what was the least expected came; Natsume lost his focused because of too much defending himself and he got his thigh stabbed. He groaned in pain as the red blood started coming out.

"NATSUME!" both Luna and Mikan shouted, causing both girls to look at each other.

Hearing the shouts, Natsume tried to pull off the knife. Then he used the knife as his weapon to attack the bad guys back, not minding the pain he felt on his thigh. He had decided to protect Mikan no matter what happened, hadn't he? So he couldn't go back before he saved her.

For Mikan, it was obviously a horrible sight. She couldn't believe the one she loathed with all her life, willing to save her this much. What was she to him? What was he doing this for? She couldn't understand. But she knew she had to do something. She couldn't just do nothing and watch him endangering himself, could she? Without a second thought, she bit the hand of her captor with all her strength, causing him to unwillingly release her and winced in pain. Using the chances, she took away the knife from her captor and pointed it back to him.

"Make your friends to leave Natsume alone and get out of this place!" she ordered, holding back her fear.

The guy she gave an order to might be the most coward among the five men. Without opposing, he quickly stood up and ran towards his friends, seemingly doing what she told her to do. A little sweat-dropped, she smiled nevertheless.

And her smile grew wider when she saw the five men immediately got out of this place.

"That's it?" Luna said disbelievingly, "You only did those simple things and they easily leave us alone just like that?"

Mikan only smiled widely.

"You're impossible!" Luna shouted as she also walked out of the place, following the guys. She wouldn't obviously let those guys just like that, not after they attacked her precious Natsume Hyuuga.

Leaving him and Mikan alone inside the building.

It was quiet for a moment. Natsume was busy healing his wound while she didn't know what to do. It was still a fact that she was still scared of him, although the fear was a little lessening after this incident. She might be kept quiet, but her heart was beating faster and faster, one thing she couldn't understand about her body.

"Mikan, are you alright?" he asked suddenly, causing her to skip a beat in shock.

"Y-Yeah." she answered, stammering. _This is very awkward! _"H-How about y-you?"

"I'm fine. Don't bother worrying."

It was silence for a moment before he spoke again, "I'm sorry."

"F-For what?"

"For everything." he explained, "I'm sorry for what I've done to you a month ago. I was drunk, you know. I couldn't control myself back then. I'm also sorry for causing you so much pain during _that_ and after that, you know what I mean. And lastly, I'm sorry for deceiving you as Kuroneko. I understand your feeling when—"

"Stop right there," she cut him off, her eyes were a bit watery, "Why are you doing all of these?"

He sighed, wasn't it obvious? "Because I love you, what else?"

She paused for a while as her mouth slightly hung open. Did she really hear what she thought she heard? She could be only imagining things. He could be saying the 'hate' word instead of 'love' word. "Pardon?"

"I love you." he stated clearly, "I've always loved you more than you know, all this time—damn it, don't cry Mikan!" he said as he stood up and walked closer to her. When he touched her cheek, he could feel her body shaking a little. It slightly hurt his chest. She was always like this every time he touched her. Though he was also quite happy she, at least, didn't reject him. "Please don't cry."

"H-How couldn't I?" she said between her sobs. "When I know you've always loved me all this time and yet I keep hating you."

"Are you feel sorry now?" he then asked.

She nodded slowly, causing him to form a smile, one thing he never did in front of everyone else besides Ruka.

"In exchange, maybe you can start loving me then?"

She widened her eyes as her cheeks grew redder. She patted him lightly on his shoulder as she saw him smirking. She couldn't believe the man before her. Though she knew she had fallen in love with him but she wouldn't admit it to him. Not yet.

"Mikan," he suddenly called, "Can I kiss you?"

He knew he was just pushing his luck on this. But what he didn't expect was when he saw her nodding her face while closing her eyes. It was a sign that she was ready. He blinked in disbelief. Yet nevertheless, he still moved his face closer to hers. He could feel her body shaking again once their lips met.

It was the longest and the most passionate kiss the both of them ever had.

...

_Kanojo wa itsumo soko ni iru. Kare wa itsumo kanojo no soba ni iru._[2]

...

**Part II - End**

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* * *

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**Translations:**

[1] She hates him so much. He loves her so much.

[2] She's always there. He's always there beside her.


End file.
